Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2016 | Page 24

MULTI

BRAND

BY DEBBIE SELINSKY

Burgers, Buffets,
and Pizza

Former securities dealer finds security in franchising

M

ills Sinclair is a man living life
on his terms. He’s equally at
home on the golf course at his
Arizona home in Scottsdale, on
the beach at his Mexican vacation home, or
sitting in a corner of one of his restaurants
on Sunday “watching families interact in
ways they don’t often do anymore.”
A Chicago native who grew up in Ari-

zona, he also has the best of both franchising
worlds: he’s not only a franchisee of Sonic
Drive-In in Oregon and Golden Corral in
Arizona and Idaho, he’s also the franchisor
of his own brand, Abby’s Legendary Pizza,
in Oregon and Washington.
Sinclair comes from a family of inventors
(his grandfather invented the first vending
machine to sell hot coffee), but as a young

man he gravitated to finance. He earned
his degree from Arizona State University
in 1969 and went to work for Young, Smith
and Peacock, an investment banking and
brokerage firm that was a member of the
New York Stock Exchange. In 1983, he
started his own broker-dealer firm, which
he sold in 1992.
As often happens, Sinclair wound up in
the restaurant business through serendipity. While working on real estate and tax
advantage deals for Abby’s, at the time a
9-unit regional chain of pizza parlors in the
Pacific Northwest, he saw great potential
and in 1988 acquired the brand. He knew
little about operating restaurants but felt
he could learn, and his financial expertise
gave him an edge. Abby’s has grown from
9 restaurants in 1988 to 36 today, all in
Oregon and Washington.
Sinclair awarded franchises to two people who had been with the company for a
long time, but didn’t add more franchisees
NAME: Mills Sinclair
TITLE: Franchisee of Sonic Drive-In
and Golden Corral; franchisor of
Abby’s Legendary Pizza
COMPANY: Abby’s Inc., and LLCs

for Sonics and Golden Corrals

NO. OF UNITS: Sonic Drive-In,

5; Golden Corral, 4; Abby’s
Legendary Pizza, 34
AGE: 69

FAMILY: Daughters Megan and

Maddie

YEARS IN FRANCHISING: 28
YEARS IN CURRENT POSITION: 28

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